According to comScore research, 2007 saw an increase in total online buying approximately 20% over 2006. The field of e-commerce saw a variety of emerging trends in 2007 including: Increased focus on customer acquisition and retention through allowing and soliciting customer reviews. Marketing Sherpa reports that 86% of consumers prefer sites with product reviews. Increased educational… Read More

Microsoft says Vista was worth the 5 year wait, claiming its new operating system contains hundreds of new features including an updated graphic user interface (GUI) and visual style dubbed Windows Aero. There are new multimedia creation tools and redesigned networking, audio, print and display subsystems. A Bigger Dog Is newer better? The… Read More

Each morning before I open my office door, I brace for the clutter. I’ll admit that my office should be condemned, but it’s my “system” and it works! Outside my messy space, though, organization counts. In business I have always focused on organization - even when there were just four of us. Building… Read More

Fuel prices are off slightly, but have you noticed where it counts? Seen any companies dropping their surcharges lately? Consider fuel surcharges the cost of doing business from this point forward. Let’s face it, business is about making money and watching the bottom line. In stores, consumers don’t see fuel surcharges because… Read More

Bertha’s the newest member of the Solid Cactus team. Well, not really. But you will be seeing Bertha appear in a series of ads Solid Cactus is running to promote Cactus Complete Commerce in “Practical Ecommerce” magazine. The concept is unique, Bertha has a secret she wants to share with other e-business owners, but… Read More

In the world of online retailing, attracting customers and making the sale is only half the battle. The other half is how quickly and accurately a company can get the order into the customers’ hands and earn their repeat business. Today’s customers are pressed for time and with buying online becoming increasingly convenient, online retailers often get only one chance to prove themselves. In the 21st century, the difference between good and great companies lies in execution of their supply chains and order fulfillment process. Whether to keep the order fulfillment function in-house or to outsource it to an order fulfillment company is certainly an important decision.

The holidays are coming. Are you still processing orders one by one? If so, it’s time to join the future of e-business before the busiest season of the year. Let us introduce you to the automatic order management system Cactus Complete Commerce powered by OrderMotion. Take advantage of the speed and… Read More

When we launched this newsletter, Solid Cactus co-founder Joe Palko and I vowed that we would offer more than just a PR vehicle for our company. Okay, we’ve done some self-congratulating, but we are also determined to provide you with genuine e-business advice in every single issue. What follows is the system we use for organizing the warehouse of our own e-business, TheFerretStore.com. E-businesses expand at the holidays because of increased business, and it is critical to have a product location plan to teach to your holiday temps. An easy-to-navigate system is crucial, and is one of many things we learned along our very long road of very hard knocks as we developed our own company.

So your webstore is doing great, orders are rolling in and packages are filling up the UPS truck at the end of the day. But, the weekly bill leaves you wondering how you can save money on transportation costs. The answer is simple, rate negotiation.

How modern is your e-business? Are you taking advantage of the speed and automation of the internet, or are you still processing orders one by one? Solid Cactus can organize and automate virtually all of the daily tasks involved in running your Yahoo! Store. Our system is scalable from the small home business to the Fortune 500 companies, and it is completely secure. Imagine a day with our web-based order system in your e-business….